x, 285 pages : 26 cm

The 20th century saw radical changes to the pulse and quality of its everyday life, thanks to a wave of astonishing inventions that improved virtually every aspect of daily existence. This invaluable reference presents more than 40 alphabetical categories of everyday inventions for the home and domestic life, grouped by purpose or function. Annotation. Presents short historical articles about the origins, scientific background, design, development, uses, and prospective future developments of over 40 alphabetically arranged categories of inventions that were born in the 20th century. Categories range from adhesive tapes (including band-aids, masking tape, Scotch cellophane tape, and duck tape) to bread machines, compact discs, credit cards, frozen foods, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines and dryers. Indexed and cross-referenced, with b & w illustrations and diagrams. Suitable for high school students and general readers

Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction -- How this book is organized -- Human inventiveness -- Invention in the twentieth century -- Enabling technologies for twentieth-century inventions -- Timeline of inventions -- Precursors to twentieth-century inventions -- The twentieth century -- Adhesive tapes -- Band-Aids -- Masking tape -- Scotch cellophane tape -- Duck tape -- Audio recording -- Wire recording -- Tape recording -- Multitrack recording -- Compact cassette tapes -- Ballpoint pen -- Barcodes and magnetic stripes -- Punched cards -- Barcodes -- Magnetic stripes -- Batteries -- Dry and wet cells -- Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries -- Bread machines -- Japanese bread machines -- The bread machine cycle -- Calculators and cash registers -- Cash registers -- Calculators -- Electronic calculators -- Electronic numerical displays -- Cameras -- Photographic film -- Kodak box cameras -- Polaroid instant cameras -- Cleaning products -- Laundry -- All-purpose cleaning products -- Hand and body cleansers -- Compact discs -- Video discs -- Music CDs -- DVDs -- Construction toys -- Alphabet blocks and Froebel's gifts -- Meccano and erector sets -- Tinkertoys and Lincoln logs -- Legos -- Convertible furniture -- The Murphy bed -- Reclining chairs -- Sofa beds and Futons -- Copiers and duplicators -- Carbon paper and mimeograph -- Hectographs and spirit duplicators -- Blueprints and whiteprints -- Xerography -- Thermofax

Credit cards -- Retailer credit cards -- Bank credit cards -- Digital telecommunications -- Fax -- The Internet -- Dishwashers -- Electric power tools -- Power drills and saws -- Cordless tools -- Electric lights -- Incandescent lamps -- Halogen lamps -- Neon lights -- Fluorescent lamps -- Indicator and pilot lights -- Electronic musical instruments -- Electric guitar -- Electronic music synthesizers -- Fasteners -- The zipper -- Velcro -- Food containers -- Canned food -- Canned beverages -- Refrigerator containers -- Food wraps -- Frozen foods -- Ice cream and frozen desserts -- Frozen foods -- TV dinners and fast food -- Freeze-dried foods -- Glues and adhesives -- Paper, sand, and glue -- Mucilage -- Elmer's glue-all -- Super and crazy glues -- Post-its -- Hair care products -- Shaving products -- Electric razors -- Hair styling products -- Hair dryers -- Home video -- Videotape recording (VCRs) -- Video discs and DVDs -- Camcorders -- Jukeboxes -- Music boxes and player pianos -- Coin phonographs -- Kitchen appliances : heat generating -- Toasters -- Electric frying pans -- Roaster ovens and cooking pots -- Coffeemakers -- Deep fryers and corn poppers -- Kitchen appliances : motorized -- Mixers -- Blenders -- Food processors -- Garbage disposers -- Microwave ovens -- Motion pictures -- Feature films -- Talking motion pictures -- Technicolor -- Wide screen -- Flickering formats

Personal hygiene products -- Condoms -- Sanitary napkins -- Tampons -- Disposable diapers -- Phonographs and high fidelity -- Discs -- Acoustic recording -- Electrical recording -- Hi-fi and LP records -- Radios -- Electromagnetic radiation -- Wireless telegraphy -- Voice transmission -- The vacuum tube -- Broadcasting -- Static and FM radio -- Refrigerators -- Iceboxes -- Mechanical refrigeration -- Home refrigerators -- "Frost-free" refrigerators -- Remote controls -- Remoter controls of home electrical devices -- Television remote controls -- Telephone answering machines -- Business telephone machines -- Home telephone answering machines -- Digital answering machines -- Telephones -- Dial phones -- Long-distance telephony -- TouchTone phones -- PicturePhones -- Modems -- Cellular telephones -- Television -- Baird's mechanical television -- Electronic television -- Color television -- High-definition (HDTV) and flat-screen television -- Vacuum cleaners -- Early vacuum cleaners -- Hoovering the home -- Vending machines -- Gum ball machines -- Beverage dispensers -- Slugs and stamps -- Video games and computer games -- Pinball arcades -- Video games -- Computer games -- Internet and 3D games -- Washing machines and dryers -- Machines that wash -- Automatic washers -- Dryers -- Laundromats

committed to retain 20170930

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